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| With hours remaining, fiscal deal uncertain Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 11:18 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chances of a deal to prevent the economy from tumbling over a "fiscal cliff" remained uncertain on Sunday as lawmakers haggled over how to prevent taxes for all Americans from rising on New Year's Day. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell worked on a compromise to stop automatic tax hikes for most Americans on January 1. Any agreement needs to be rushed through both chambers of Congress before midnight on Monday. One Democratic Senate aide said it was uncertain whether the leaders would reach an accord. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain policemen jailed for beating opposition member to death Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 10:33 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Two Bahraini policemen were sentenced to jail for seven years each on Sunday for beating to death a Shi'ite opposition activist in custody during last year's crackdown on protesters. The sentences, reported by state news agency BNA, were criticized as too lenient by critics and may do little to blunt international criticism of human rights abuses since Bahrain's Sunni Muslim rulers quelled a Shi'ite-led uprising last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudanese police block protest at human rights commission Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 09:58 AM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese security forces on Sunday blocked activists trying to deliver a petition criticizing the government to the country's human rights commission, drawing a rare rebuke from the state-appointed body. Sudan has avoided mass "Arab Spring" protests that unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia, but President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who seized power in 1989, has faced dissent over a severe economic crisis and corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court to rule on legality of Egyptian parliament Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 09:26 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court is to examine the legitimacy of the upper house of parliament, a case likely to increase the legal uncertainty of the country's political transition and leave it without a legislature. The Supreme Constitutional Court has already forced the lower house to dissolve under a June ruling that said an electoral law used to elect both chambers - and which resulted in an Islamist dominated parliament - was unfair. ... Full Story | Top |
| No end to Syria war if sides refuse to talk: envoy Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:56 AM PST  AZAZ, Syria/CAIRO (Reuters) - The international peace negotiator for Syria pleaded with outside countries on Sunday to push the warring parties to the table for talks, warning that the country would become a failed state ruled by warlords unless diplomacy is given a chance. Lakhdar Brahimi, who inherited the seemingly impossible task of bringing an end to the war after his predecessor Kofi Annan resigned in frustration in July, has launched an intensified diplomatic campaign to win backing for a peace plan. He spent five days this week in Damascus, where he met President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic president says ready to share power with rebels Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:40 AM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's embattled President Francois Bozize said on Sunday he was ready to share power with the leaders of a rebellion that has swept aside government defenses to within striking distance of the capital. The three-week old onslaught by the rebel alliance Seleka has highlighted the instability of the landlocked former French colony, which remains one of the least developed nations on the planet despite its rich deposits of uranium, gold and diamonds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan militants kill 41 in mass execution, attack on Shi'ites Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:36 AM PST  PESHWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militants, who have escalated attacks in recent weeks, killed at least 41 people in two separate incidents, officials said on Sunday, challenging assertions that military offensives have broken the back of hardline Islamist groups. The United States has long pressured nuclear-armed ally Pakistan to crack down harder on both homegrown militants groups such as the Taliban and others which are based on its soil and attack Western forces in Afghanistan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic president says ready to form coalition government with rebels Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:35 AM PST BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Francois Bozize said on Sunday he was ready to form a coalition government with the Seleka rebel alliance and would not stand for re-election in 2016. He told a news conference following a meeting with African Union Chairman Thomas Yayi Boni in the capital Bangui that he was ready for peace talks in Gabon, without conditions. A three-week-old Seleka rebellion has advanced to within 75 km (45 miles) of Bangui, posing the most serious threat yet to Bozize's nearly 10 years in charge of the turbulent and resource-rich former French colony. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic rebels say aim is not to join government Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 08:35 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - The Seleka rebel alliance in the Central African Republic will consider an offer by President Francois Bozize on Sunday to form a coalition government, but the group's aim is not to join the existing government, a spokesman said. "I take note of his proposals. We need to meet to study them," Seleka spokesman Eric Massi told France 24 television. He said that the rebels also wanted to see what guarantees would be made to them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monti's reform path faces test beyond Italy elections Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:46 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Mario Monti declared "mission accomplished" when he resigned as Italy's prime minister, having seen off the debt crisis that loomed as he took office just over a year ago but 2013 will test whether he has laid the foundations for lasting economic change. Elections on February 24-25 will give Italian voters their first chance to decide whether they want to stick to the broad course he has set or turn to a growing chorus of politicians who have attacked his austerity medicine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Faulty brakes may be to blame in Russian plane crash Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:17 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Faulty brakes may be to blame for a Russian airliner sliding off the runway and smashing onto a highway near Moscow, killing five people, a member of the crash investigation team said on Sunday. Investigators said they were examining the black boxes to try to determine the cause of Saturday's crash, which cracked the wings off the Tupolev-204 plane and split the fuselage clean into three pieces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese fishing boat detained in Japan: Xinhua Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 07:11 AM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan's coastguard detained a Chinese fishing boat within Japanese waters on Sunday evening, China's Xinhua news agency said, citing the Chinese consulate general in Fukuoka, a city in southwestern Japan. The captain of the boat, registered in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, and two crew members have been brought to the southern Japanese city of Kagoshima for questioning, Xinhua said. It said the captain had admitted he was in Japanese waters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Body of India rape victim cremated in New Delhi Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:52 AM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The body of a woman, whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India, arrived back in New Delhi on Sunday and was cremated at a private ceremony. Scuffles broke out in central Delhi between police and protesters who say the government is doing too little to protect women. But the 2,000-strong rally was confined to a single area, unlike last week when protests raged up throughout the capital. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany close to arms deal with Saudia Arabia: report Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:31 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government is close to completing a 100 million-euro arms deal with Saudi Arabia to sell 30 armored vehicles, and Berlin's national security council has already signaled its backing, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday. Quoting sources it said were involved in the negotiations, the newspaper said Saudia Arabia wants to buy a total of 100 of the "Dingo" armored vehicles over the longer term. The armored vehicles are manufactured by Krauss Maffei-Wegmann and Bruker Daltonik from Leipzig, Bild said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel eases ban on building material for Gaza Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:31 AM PST  GAZA (Reuters) - Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007. A Palestinian official with knowledge of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended eight days of fighting last month between Israel and Gaza militants said the move had been expected as part of the deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: U.S. has good leads on who carried out Benghazi attacks Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 06:06 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has some "very good leads" about who carried out the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans including the U.S. ambassador in September, President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the United States would carry out all of the recommendations put forward in an independent review of the September 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. "We're not going to pretend that this was not a problem. This was a huge problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sunni protesters attack Iraq official's convoy, guards wound two Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 05:55 AM PST RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Bodyguards for Iraq's deputy prime minister wounded two people when they fired warning shots at Sunni protesters who pelted his convoy with bottles and stones on Sunday, witnesses said. The incident took place in the city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar, to where Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq had travelled to address people in an attempt to defuse sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy leftist PM candidate Bersani tops opinion poll, Monti second Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 05:17 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani is favorite among Italians to lead the next government, with outgoing technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti second most popular and Silvio Berlusconi coming a close third, a poll showed on Sunday. Bersani scored 36.2 percent, Monti 23.3 percent and Berlusconi 21.8 percent, the poll, conducted by the CISE electoral research institute for Il Sole 24 Ore daily, found. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five Bangladeshi sentenced to death for Saudi diplomat killing Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 04:25 AM PST DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi court sentenced five members of a gang to death on Sunday for killing a Saudi Arabian diplomat in the capital Dhaka last March, court officials said. Khalaf Ali, 45, a second secretary at his embassy, was shot at night near the embassy in Dhaka's diplomatic zone, raising an alarm over the first slaying of a diplomat in the country. Judge Mohammad Motahar Hossain of the quick-trial court issued the verdict for the five men who police said shot Ali while trying to rob him. One of the accused remains on the run from police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel indicts former foreign minister Lieberman Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:41 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman was charged on Sunday with fraud and breach of trust, allegations that prompted his resignation as foreign minister two weeks ago, justice officials said. Lieberman, who has denied the accusations, remains head of the Yisrael Beitenu party that has formed a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party ahead of a January 22 parliamentary election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's finance minister Aso to travel to Myanmar, meet president Thein Sein Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 03:29 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, travels to Myanmar this week for talks with President Thein Sein to boost relations with the rapidly transforming country and support Japanese business interests in the region. Aso, who doubles as finance minister, meets Thein Sein and his opposite number Win Shein in the capital Naypyitaw on Thursday in the first high-profile overseas visit by a member of Tokyo's new cabinet since it took office last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran showcases special forces during naval drills: report Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 02:25 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian special forces and military diving units practiced defending their ports and coastline against attacks on Sunday, state-linked media reported during naval war games meant to warn off states threatening the Islamic republic. The highly-publicized "Velayat 91" exercises are taking place across a wide area from the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas shipping route, to the Gulf of Oman and northern parts of the Indian Ocean. ... Full Story | Top |
| Old Aleppo, frontline ghost town of ruined treasures Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:59 AM PST  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - A 13th century mosque is shuttered, its tottering minaret struck at the base by a shell. Snipers fire from nests atop the immense stone walls of the citadel, where ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkish warriors once perched. Until a few months ago, Old Aleppo was both a living museum and a breathing city, where souk shoppers haggled over spices, books and olive-oil soap beneath wrought-iron filigree balconies and wooden lattice screens. Aleppo is Syria's largest city and economic hub. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel challenger under fire for saying chancellor underpaid Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:18 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck was widely criticized on Sunday, even by his own center-left Social Democrats (SPD), for saying German leaders were underpaid. Steinbrueck has struggled to gain ground against Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of next September's election, in part due to lingering criticism over him earning 1.25 million euros ($1.65 million) as an after-dinner speaker in the past three years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan blast kills 20 Shia pilgrims in latest sectarian attack Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 01:12 AM PST  QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded on Sunday near a convoy of buses taking Pakistani Shia pilgrims to Iran, killing 20 people and wounding 24, officials said, the latest attack on the minority sect. Witnesses said the blast occurred as the three buses were overtaking a car about 60 km (35 miles) west of Quetta, capital of sparsely populated Baluchistan province, site of many sectarian attacks, near the Iranian border. "The bus next to us caught on fire immediately," said pilgrim Hussein Ali, 60. "We tried to save our companions but were driven back by the intensity of the heat. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. plane stuck in Iran for repairs after emergency landing Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 12:46 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - A small U.S. commercial plane has been stuck in Iran for nearly three weeks after making an emergency landing near the city of Ahvaz, the country's airports director said on Sunday. The plane was forced to land because of technical problems, Mahmoud Rasoulinejad said, quoted by the Mehr news agency. "After landing, the crew traveled on to countries around the Persian Gulf and the plane is currently being repaired," he said. Rasoulinejad did not specify who owned the aircraft, where it was headed or the nationality of the crew members. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least three al Qaeda-linked militants killed in Yemen: sources Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 10:22 PM PST SANAA (Reuters) - At least three al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in the southern Yemeni province of al-Bayda late on Saturday in an apparent drone strike, government and tribal sources said. Dozens of suspected militants including al Qaeda members have been killed in recent months, many in strikes by pilotless aircraft, as the Yemeni government pursues a U.S.-backed effort to counter Islamist fighters mostly operating in the south. "Their bodies were charred and the car was completely obliterated," a tribesman who rushed to the scene told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sex, drugs and rock and roll: Australia's other boom Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 06:25 PM PST  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Forget Australia's mining boom. The nation's strong economy, high currency and wages have made it a magnet for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Foreign sex workers, drug smugglers and global rock acts are all targeting Australia to cash in on an economy growing at 3.1 percent when other developed nations are struggling to expand at all. The alternative boom has emerged as Australian average full-time wages hit $72,500 a year, and with the Australian dollar trading stubbornly above parity with the U.S. dollar for the past two years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain heading in the right direction: Cameron Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 04:02 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday Britain was heading in the right direction on all its major issues and could look forward to 2013 with realism and optimism. In a New Year video message, Cameron said the country had made progress on cutting its budget deficit, reforming welfare and improving school standards. Deficit reduction and preserving Britain's credit rating have been goals for the coalition of Cameron's Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, which came to power in June 2010 just after the budget deficit peaked at 11.2 percent of GDP. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate leaders work to avoid New Year's "fiscal cliff" Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 03:51 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators burrowed into their offices on Saturday to see if they could stop the U.S. economy from falling off of a "fiscal cliff" in just three days when the biggest tax increases ever to hit Americans in one shot are scheduled to begin. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell worked through the day on a possible compromise that would set aside $600 billion in tax increases and across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to kick in next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death of India rape victim stirs anger, promises of action Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 02:07 PM PST  NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A woman whose gang rape provoked protests and rare national debate about violence against women in India died from her injuries on Saturday, prompting promises of action from a government that has struggled to respond to public outrage. The unidentified 23-year-old medical student suffered a brain injury and massive internal damage in the attack on December 16 and died in hospital in Singapore where she had been taken for treatment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi says Monti plotting with Italy's center left Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 01:45 PM PST  ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday that outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti was plotting with the left in his centrist alliance's bid to win Italy's national election in February, but centrist leaders denied any secret accord. Monti, who replaced Berlusconi as prime minister last year when Italy was scrambling to avert a financial crisis, said on Friday he wanted to unite a broad coalition of factions around a reform agenda aimed at easing the country's economic woes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: After "fiscal cliff" dive, more battles, new cliffs Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 01:20 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Whether or not the "fiscal cliff" impasse is broken before the New Year's Eve deadline, there will be no post-cliff peace in Washington. With the political climate toxic in Congress as the cliff's steep tax hikes and spending cuts approach, other partisan fights loom, all over the issue that has paralyzed the capital for the past two years: federal spending. The first will come in late February when the Treasury Department runs out of borrowing authority and has to come to Congress to get the debt ceiling raised. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four killed when Russian airliner crash lands Saturday, Dec 29, 2012 12:55 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian airliner flying without passengers broke into pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed onto a highway outside Moscow upon landing on Saturday, killing four of the eight crew on board and leaving smoking chunks of fuselage on the icy road. The crash during peak holiday travel ahead of Russia's New Year's vacation, which runs from Sunday through January 9, cast a spotlight on the country's poor air-safety record despite President Vladimir Putin's calls to improve controls. ... Full Story | Top |
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